ATHENA TO MEDUSA TO ATHENA
To bloom like a fever
in June, my steady head,
her punisher. To have her off-
ed would be enough.
In June, my steady head
was bound to puncture.
A needle point would be enough,
heart fissures. Little scythe
bound for puncture,
for punishment. To have her heart
fissure. Little scream
blooming into fever.
A fever like a bloom,
a little stream. Sudden fissure.
To have myself as my punisher,
bound to puncture her heart
through fissures, seething.
Enough to needle point,
to puncture her. Bound to her steady
head in June, enough
to have myself off with my punisher,
Woman with steady head:
a fever in bloom.
Alyssa Froehling received her MFA from Ohio State in 2021 and her poems appear or are forthcoming in New Delta Review, Nashville Review, Black Warrior Review, Puerto Del Sol, The Pinch, and elsewhere. Find her here.
theboilerjournal.com 